1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to solar activated drying devices, and more particularly to drying devices for clothes utilizing solar energy to regenerate a desiccant used therein. The invention further relates to an apparatus for conservation of energy by utilization of solar energy to achieve results currently achieved by utilization of electrical energy or thermal energy generated by gas combustion or the like, the apparatus having two useful by-products, comprising hot water and distilled water and thereby effecting further savings and conservation of energy and natural resources.
2. The Prior Art.
In the prior art, use of a desiccant in a clothes dryer has been associated with a requirement for a separate heater for air which is used to dry the clothes. During regeneration of the desiccant the drying process is stopped. The desiccant, a liquid, is sprayed into the air stream, as disclosed in Brucken U.S. Pat. No. 3,043,015.
In a dehumidifying system using solar heating of air for reactivating a desiccant, as disclosed in Hallock, U.S. Pat. No. 2,566,327, no functional drying of clothes is contemplated. Moreover, a complicated collector structure, requiring tubing and fins, is utilized.
Other dryers using adsorbent materials are disclosed in Tuck et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,034,221, and utilize heat generated by the adsorption process in the clothes drying.
None of the prior art devices provide a simple, easily fabricated structure for use in solar regeneration of a desiccant used in a clothes drying apparatus. Moreover, prior art solar reactivators fail to use fully the solar energy absorbed thereby, and provide no other useful product than a reactivated desiccant.